Featured Stories
Diane Mugford :
A profound experience at WCHI
Diane Mugford is a convert.
Through her experience with the Women’s Cardiovascular Health Initiative (WCHI), she has discovered the benefits of exercise. “It cleans the cobwebs,” she says. “I just feel better when I’m exercising.”
Mugford has Type II diabetes. She meets regularly with a handful of other women she met through the Women’s College Hospital diabetes education centre, TRIDEC. Her friends had participated in the WCHI prevention program and recommended it. “I was the last one in our group to go, but it probably had the most profound effect on me,” she says. “I’m not athletic and I hate to sweat, but for the first time in my life I had the confidence to actually run on the treadmill.”
Staying fit and healthy is important to Mugford because she’s a very busy woman. A former businessperson, she helped launch the Company Theatre in 2004. While her two young partners develop ambitious artistic projects, she helps raise money with a very active and dedicated Board of Directors. In November, the Company Theatre will stage Festen, a Danish play with an all-star cast that includes Eric Peterson, Nicholas Campbell and Caroline Cave.
Mugford is a committed volunteer with WCHI, too. She and her friend Pat McGee ran the auction for the first Heart Beat Ball in 2007 and are now preparing for the second event in February 2009 (see ad this page). She also supports the hospital financially, making automatic monthly contributions. “It’s easy to do,” she says. “You don’t feel it when it comes off every month. Women’s College Hospital made a difference for me, so I’m happy to support it.”